Focused on 3 Sustainable Development Goals, the Future Here Summit invited social good doers, innovators and artists to re-imagine a new Renaissance – one involving technology.

Horyou team presenting the social network for social good to the Future Here Summit audience. Image Credits to Anna Rosa Paladino for TIAC Academy.

Let’s fast forward and think of a world without inequalities, where innovation is a core element in all enterprises and society is built on partnerships for good. This is not Utopia – all the aforementioned scenarios actually come under three of seventeen United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

The 3 SDGs – Reduced Inequalities; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and Partnership to Achieve the Goals – , were the main focus of the Future Here Summit, an event focused on re-imagining the next generations from a ‘Renaissance’ viewpoint. Unsurprisingly, Florence, birthplace of the eponymous artistic avant-garde movement, was the venue. While addressing issues including Augmented Intelligence, Energy, Nature, Sustainable Development and Education, the event had both on-site and virtual panels and sessions, whereby artists, entrepreneurs, visionaries and academics were invited to exchange ideas and expectations for the future.

Horyou, the social network for social good, contributed to one of the sessions with an inspiring presentation of its role in empowering change-makers. Speaking for Horyou, Sueyfer Velásquez, Social Media and Partnerships Manager, introduced the network to a diverse and curious audience. «It’s a very powerful experience to share our vision for a better world in the birthplace of Renaissance», she said. Seizing the opportunity, Sueyfer went on to introduce HoryouToken, the first digital currency for economic inclusion and advancement of the SDGs, along with HoryouTV and SIGEF, the Social Innovation and Global Ethics Forum, which will take place on 18-19 September, in Tokyo, Japan.

In addition to the conferences, the Future Here Summit incorporated Orbit, a dedicated incubator for the development of «experiential wisdom tools and businesses» where art, science and businesses were welcome to help promote inclusive growth.

A new movement seeks to convene entrepreneurs for a sustainable 21st century

Oxygen2050 conference takes place in Helsinki

Exactly how would you imagine the world in 30 years? At the pace technology is advancing, the world as we know it is bound to transform completely. But will it cope with the current challenges our society is faced with?

A global group of entrepreneurs believe they can offer some answers to those questions and, more importantly, propose solutions for the next decades. Oxygen 2050 is a grassroots movement that aspires to transform the 21st Century society through inclusion and sustainability.

Hence, on the 15th of February, the group is bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and stakeholders in Helsinki, to consider the establishment of new ventures for a new world. For that purpose, Oxygen 2050 is re-inventing the traditional conference format and proposing an alternative to panels and roundtables in the form of ‘jam sessions’ whereby everyone is invited to bring their notes. It’s called Transformative Business Unconference (TBU), and it’s got no agenda other than the main theme, embracing the idea of crowd-sourced content. Schedules aren’t immutable and may be rewritten any time, and inspiration is the rule.

Invited speaker Yonathan Parienti, founder and CEO of Horyou, the social network for social good, will elaborate on the Horyou’s mission, as well as on HoryouToken and the concept of Blockchain with a Purpose. Says Yonathan: «We are humbled to be part of this group of entrepreneurs working together and exchanging ideas for better times. Horyou is here to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030 by sharing its experience within the ecosystem of social entrepreneurship».

It is worth noting that Oxygen 2050 gathering resonates with Horyou’s mission, which is to introduce a new approach to valuing creation. In the words of its organizers, “growth and profit are important, but motivation derives from purpose, while the challenges that the world is faced with call entrepreneurs, investors, customers and stakeholders at large to determine the mission and the purpose of their institutions”.

The Alpine winter was not hard enough to cool off the world’s most important economic forum

Horyou team was in Davos, Switzerland

Every year, the World Economic Forum is a most awaited event – the freezing Swiss town of Davos is the place where world leaders and their finance ministers take the stage to ‘seduce’ investors and commercial partners. 2019 WEF was no different as it set the tone for all conversations and debates for the year to come. And Horyou team was there. As for some of the main outcomes of Davos:

1. The ubiquitous AI – Artificial Intelligence has been a hot topic for some years at the WEF, but in 2019 it is a star. Its technology is everywhere – in our homes and our workplaces, and it is helping shape the world we live in and how we see it. For some firms, like Reuters and Majid Al Futtaim’s shopping mall, the forum was a platform to launch their AI solutions.

2. Clean energy now – Even oil-based economies agree that it is important to consider alternatives. Climate change and investor pressure are pushing companies to re-think their strategies and invest in the production of cleaner energy with help from more technology.

3. Blockchain is the name of the game – Speaking at the Blockchain Economic Forum, Horyou’s founder and CEO, Yonathan Parienti, presented the concept of Blockchain with a Purpose and HoryouToken. As a disruptive decentralized technology, Blockchain is impacting not only the financial system but also the healthcare, philanthropy, and insurance industries among others. And the World Economic Forum gave it an important exposition.

The Blockchain Economic Forum took place in Davos from 24-26 January

4. The future of work – It’s already happening. Humans and machines now coexist at the workplace. Companies and countries are discussing the possibility of designing strategies to make this transition smooth and collaborative, without threatening jobs and incomes.

5. Environment matters – The WEF opened its stage to Sir David Attenborough, who was awarded for his lifetime contribution to the promotion of the protection of animal life, as well as Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern, from New Zealand, and Mark Rutte, from the Netherlands, who spoke about the urgent need to protect the environment. The private sector also showed its engagement with the cause of the planet – a group of 50 CEOs working across 150 countries met to discuss ways to reduce emissions.

6. SDGs in the Spotlight – Besides setting a dedicated area for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the WEF nurtured many debates around them. On the Forum’s platform for public-private cooperation, business projects were presented on topics including sustainable consumption and production, mental health, youth empowerment and disability inclusion.

Celebration of World Humanitarian Day at the United Nations in New York, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016. (Stuart Ramson/AP Images for United Nations)

On the 4th of January this year, the latest UN International Days were celebrated officially for the first time. World Braille Day celebrates the inclusion of more than 1 billion people with some degree of visual impairment through the reading platform that gives them more chances to thrive.

The World Braille Day is the 161st UN International Day marked on the UN Calendar, and one of the many awareness days that contribute to spread the word about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030.

The history of the UN Days goes decades back, the first being the UN Day, on October 24th, 1948, which was set to celebrate every year the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations. Since then, the UN has maintained the tradition of reminding the world of and promoting actions for many of its challenges, including Education (January 24th), Women (March 8th), Health (April 7th) and Democracy (September 15th) – all closely related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The topics were typically decided in a General Assembly on proposition from one or more Member States, and their celebrations declared by the Organization’s specialized agencies including UNESCO, UNICEF, FAO or UNHCR, to name but a few, in relation to their mission statement.

Most UN Days celebrate specific historical facts that marked the related social movement and were officialized later. The International Women’s Day, for instance, has gathered more and more supporters throughout history and March 8th rallies around the world remember the early 20th Century feminists’ fight for gender equality (SDG 5). Celebrated on June 20th, the World Refugee Day goes back to the 1951 UN Convention, a few years after the end of WW2. They commemorate the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees, resonating with the motto of the Agenda 2030 “Leaving No One Behind”.

Are you interested in the UN Days? Want to learn more? To help raise awareness of such important topics, Horyou has created a Smart Calendar which every citizen can follow to promote every UN International Day. It is a gift from Horyou to change makers and social good doers around the world. To download Horyou’s smart calendar on your mobile phone, follow the links:

Along the same lines, we invite all social good doers to share their initiatives, inspiring thoughts and actions relating to the UN Days within our social good ecosystem on horyou.com, the social network for social good. In so doing, they may collect “Lights” from all continents, and receive HoryouToken (HYT), the first Utility Token supporting social and economic inclusion. They may also foster the SDGs through our “BlockChain with a Purpose”.

It’s the 21st century and, more than ever before, economic development can’t dispense with sustainability. And the World Economic Forum in Davos is the right place to foster the UN Sustainable Development Goals as key to economic prosperity.

Horyou is there to talk about a most disruptive if innovative technology, namely the HoryouToken*, a cryptocurrency for Inclusion and Sustainability built on the concept of Blockchain with a Purpose. Horyou was invited at the Blockchain Economic Forum, taking place in Davos from 24-26 January to demonstrate in which ways HoryouToken can support and foster the SDGs. With a significant high profile audience, the event gathers heads of States, alongside government officials, investors, entrepreneurs and leaders of the new economy to review cutting edge topics in panels and roundtables, or during evening receptions and speed networking breaks.

Yonathan Parienti, founder and CEO of Horyou, is a speaker at the Blockchain Economic Forum in Davos

Yonathan Parienti, founder and CEO of Horyou, underscored the potentially strong impact of Blockchain technology on the UN Sustainable Development Goals to democratize the otherwise hectic funder/funded process. “It is not about speculation but about Blockchain applications with real value to society via providing support to constructive initiatives aimed at promoting sustainability and inclusion. Everyone can be a force for good, everyone can share inspiration and be a change agent”, he asserted.

A Spotlight on Climate Change and Environment

Prince William interviews Sir David Attenborough

This year, the World Economic Forum has provided a larger space to sustainability, proving that the global leaders are showing more concern to the future of our planet. Thus the presence of 92-year-old naturalist Sir David Attenborough, hardly a self-serving political star, who evoked the future of our planet in an interview with Prince William. “We have to recognize that every breath of air we take, every mouthful of food we take, comes from the natural world. And if we damage the natural world, we damage ourselves. We are one coherent ecosystem. It’s not just a question of beauty, or interest, or wonder – the essential ingredient of human life is a healthy planet”, he uttered.

Davos and the 2021 Sustainability Strategy

Davos, Switzerland

Since 2015, the WEF has developed a Strategy for 2021 that aims to ensure a highest level of sustainability for its offices and events, as well as to strengthen the integration of sustainability practices into its business processes and global operations. The strategy covers six priority areas comprising air travel emissions, sustainable design and branding, low impact ingredient catering, supply chain, natural energy resources and work-safety practices. Last year, the ISO 20121 meeting became independently certified “sustainable event management”. The Forum has since followed a strict methodology to set sustainability into its internal policies and processes, covering a range of event and activities, ranging from the materials used for temporary structures and decoration, to energy use, food and beverages, waste management, and transportation. In addition, the Forum has sought to ensure equitable procurement policies, fair employment practices, health and safety of its staff and participants, and meaningful engagement with local communities. The Annual Meeting’s carbon footprint is also measured and compensated for in an internationally recognized manner: having calculated the event’s footprint, the Forum then compensates it by buying the corresponding amount of carbon credits from South Pole, which supports emissions reduction projects.

It’s not just about cryptocurrencies and tokens: It’s about Blockchain causing a social revolution

We’re in 2019 and if you’ve still not heard of Blockchain I would assume you’ve been out of this planet for a while. The disruptive, innovative technology that is essentially known for revolutionizing the financial world through cryptocurrencies has been a hot topic since 2017 when Bitcoin value reached a peak and all investors wanted to set foot in this promising market.

Yonathan Parienti, founder and CEO of Horyou, presents HoryouToken

Since then, a lot has happened: While pioneer cryptocurrency Bitcoin was jumping up and down, new cryptocurrencies were created whose outlook and fate look promising though not totally clear, let alone assured, subjects as they are to the vagaries of the volatility of speculative markets. It is in that context albeit with the aim of staying above the turmoil, that HoryouToken was launched last December to support and promote social and economic inclusion, as well as propose a fresh approach to the cryptocurrency industry which posits that Blockchain can and should come with a Purpose. Thanks to a traceable and intelligent philanthropic feature called Proof of Impact that enables each Blockchain transaction to support social good causes, it allocates resources to social entrepreneurship projects, non-profits and social good doers, and members of the social network for social good, Horyou.com.

The United Nation Sustainable Development Goals

The idea behind the creation of HoryouToken is that Blockchain can advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals, via social impact and economic redistribution. More specifically, it can impact SDG1 (No Poverty), SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Yet, there are many other uses for Blockchain that are not solely connected to cryptocurrencies. Social entrepreneurs may find a world of possibilities within the technology, ranging from supply chain solutions, to management of unnecessary waste and pollution (SDG12), strengthening democracy, reinforcing government institutions and fostering transparency (SDG16).

Contracts, data sharing and copyright issues would be safer and broker-free, which would reduce costs and increase access to services. E-government is a fine example. Having long invested in technology and adopted Blockchain since 2012, Estonia is now considered as one of the most unbureaucratic, smart states in the world. It is attracting new tech businesses and investors, developing workforce and turning into a more sustainable community (SDG11).

Healthcare has also made interesting use of Blockchain, with digital records starting to be adopted all over the world and hospitals, cities and countries using them as a safe if smart way to handle health data.

So, what does the future hold for Blockchain technology? Experts point to a clear social impact, with improved security, as well as compliance and traceability of goods and people. This would translate into healthier food through Blockchain in the supply chain and transportation, fair wages and the end of forced labor through smart contracts. And, of course, more functionalities for social-oriented cryptocurrencies and tokens to promote a fairer and more inclusive world. All reasons why for us HoryouToken, which by nature is the embodiment of Blockchain and cryptocurrency for social good, is a subject of pride.